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Former Texans living in the West Valley have a new place to get a taste of home: Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q in Goodyear.

The chain that specializes in Texas-style, dry-rubbed barbecue opened its newest restaurant in Goodyear in June to a warm welcome, said Chad Parrish, one of the store's owners.

The plans for the 325-seat restaurant, south of Interstate 10 on Litchfield Road, have been a long time in the making.

Goodyear was one of the first Phoenix-metro area cities Parrish and his partner targeted when they decided to expand into Arizona five years ago.

He said they struggled to find an adequate location and ended up opening the first Arizona Rudy's in Chandler three years ago.

"We'd get people, especially on the weekends, who'd tell us 'We drove here from Goodyear or Avondale' so we knew the demand was there," Parrish said.

The first Rudy's located in Texas Hill Country was opened as a store where locals could buy gas and groceries. It added Texas barbecue in 1989 and has been expanding ever since.

There are about three dozen Rudy's in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arizona. Parrish said he has scouted locations in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, but there are no concrete plans to build a restaurant in either city yet.

He added that he would like to open stores in north Phoenix and somewhere along U.S. 60 somewhere in the East Valley within the next few years. Parrish said he hopes to expand to Tucson as well.